18. Al-Kahf

1 Praise be to Allah who has sent down upon His servant the Book and has not placed therein any crookedness

2 Straight to warn of severe punishment from Him and to give good tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds that they will have a good reward

3 In which they will remain forever

4 And to warn those who say Allah has taken a son

5 They have no knowledge of it nor had their fathers. Grave is the word that comes out of their mouths. They speak not except a lie

6 Then perhaps you would kill yourself through grief over them if they do not believe in this message

7 Indeed We have made that which is on the earth adornment for it that We may test them as to which of them is best in deed

8 And indeed We will make that which is upon it barren ground

9 Do you think that the companions of the cave and the inscription were among Our wondrous signs

10 When the youths retreated to the cave and said Our Lord grant us mercy from Yourself and guide us in our affair

11 So We cast over their ears in the cave for a number of years

12 Then We awakened them to know which of the two parties was most precise in calculating what they had remained in time

13 We narrate to you their story in truth Indeed they were youths who believed in their Lord and We increased them in guidance

14 And We strengthened their hearts when they stood and said Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth We will never invoke besides Him any deity Indeed we would have spoken an excessive transgression

15 These our people have taken gods besides Him If only they would bring clear authority about them Who is more unjust than one who invents about God a lie

16 And when you have withdrawn from them and that which they worship other than God retreat to the cave Your Lord will spread out for you of His mercy and will prepare for you from your affair ease

17 And you would see the sun when it rose inclining away from their cave on the right and when it set passing away from them on the left while they were in an open space thereof That was from the signs of God He whom God guides is the guided but he whom He leaves astray never will you find for him a protecting guide

18 And you would think them awake while they were asleep And We turned them to the right and to the left while their dog stretched his forelegs at the entrance If you had looked at them you would have turned from them in flight and been filled with terror of them

19 And similarly We awakened them that they might question one another Said a speaker from among them How long have you remained They said We have remained a day or part of a day They said Your Lord is most knowing of how long you remained So send one of you with this silver coin of yours to the city and let him look to which is the best of food and bring you provision from it and let him be cautious And let no one be aware of you

20 Indeed if they come to know of you they will stone you or return you to their religion And never would you succeed then ever

21 And similarly We caused them to be found that they would know that the promise of God is truth and that of the Hour there is no doubt When they disputed among themselves about their affair they said Construct over them a structure Their Lord is most knowing about them Said those who prevailed in the matter We will surely take over them a place of worship

22 They will say three their fourth being their dog and they will say five their sixth being their dog guessing at the unseen and they will say seven and their eighth being their dog Say My Lord is most knowing of their number None knows them except a few So do not argue about them except with an obvious argument and do not inquire about them among any of them

23 And never say of anything Indeed I will do that tomorrow

24 Except if God wills And remember your Lord when you forget and say Perhaps my Lord will guide me to what is nearer than this to right conduct

25 And they remained in their cave for three hundred years and exceeded by nine

26 Say God is most knowing of how long they remained To Him belongs the unseen of the heavens and the earth How seeing is He and how hearing They have not besides Him any protector and He shares not His legislation with anyone

27 Recite what has been revealed to you from the Book of your Lord. None can change His words, and you will never find a refuge besides Him.

28 And keep yourself patient with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His face. And do not let your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever in neglect.

29 And say, The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills let him believe; and whoever wills let him disbelieve. Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose walls will surround them. And if they call for relief, they will be relieved with water like molten brass, which scalds the faces. Wretched is the drink, and evil is the resting place.

30 Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds indeed, We will not allow to be lost the reward of any who did well in deeds.

31 Those will have gardens of perpetual residence; beneath them rivers will flow. They will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and will wear green garments of fine silk and brocade, reclining therein on adorned couches. Excellent is the reward, and good is the resting place.

32 Give them the example of two men. We gave one of them two gardens of grapevines, and We surrounded both with palm trees and placed crops between them.

33 Both gardens produced their fruit and did not fail in any way. We caused a river to flow through them.

34 He had abundant fruit. He said to his companion while conversing with him, I am greater than you in wealth and stronger in respect to people.

35 He entered his garden while wronging himself. He said, I do not think this will ever perish.

36 I do not think the Hour will come. Even if I am returned to my Lord, I will surely find something better than this as a return.

37 His companion said to him while conversing with him, Do you disbelieve in He who created you from dust, then from a sperm drop, then fashioned you into a man?

38 But as for me, He is God, my Lord, and I do not associate anyone with my Lord.

39 Why did you not say, when you entered your garden, What God wills. There is no power except through God. If you see me less than you in wealth and children,

40 It may be that my Lord will give me something better than your garden and will send upon it a calamity from the sky, and it will become a slippery ground,

41 Or its water will become sunken, so you would never be able to seek it.

42 And his fruits were encompassed, so he began to turn his hands about for what he had spent on it, while it had collapsed upon its trellises, and said, Oh, I wish I had not associated anyone with my Lord.

43 And there was for him no company to aid him other than God, nor could he defend himself.

44 There the authority is for God, the Truth. He is best in reward and best in outcome.

45 Present to them the example of worldly life. It is like water We send down from the sky, then the plants of the earth mingle with it, and then it becomes dry remnants, scattered by the winds. And God is always capable over all things.

46 Wealth and children are the adornment of worldly life. But the enduring good deeds are better with your Lord for reward and better for hope.

47 And the Day We will move the mountains and you will see the earth exposed, and We will gather them and not leave behind from them anyone.

48 And they will be presented before your Lord in rows. You have come to Us as We created you the first time. But you claimed that We would never make for you an appointment.

49 And the record will be placed, and you will see the criminals fearful of what is in it, and they will say, Woe to us! What is this book that leaves nothing small or big except that it has recorded it? And they will find what they did present. And your Lord does not wrong anyone.

50 And when We said to the angels, Prostrate to Adam, and they prostrated, except Iblis. He was of the jinn and disobeyed the command of his Lord. Then will you take him and his descendants as allies other than Me while they are enemies to you? Wretched it is for the wrongdoers as an exchange.

51 I did not make them witness to the creation of the heavens and the earth or to the creation of themselves, and I would not have taken the misguiders as assistants.

52 And the Day He will say, Call My partners whom you claimed, and they will invoke them, but they will not respond to them. And We will put between them a destructive barrier.

53 And the criminals will see the Fire and will be certain that they are to fall into it. And they will not find from it a way elsewhere.

54 We have explained in this Quran every kind of example for people. But man is the most argumentative of all creatures.

55 And nothing prevents people from believing when guidance comes to them and from asking forgiveness of their Lord except that the practice of the former peoples should come to them or that the punishment should come before them.

56 And We send the messengers only as bearers of good news and warners. And those who disbelieve dispute with falsehood to refute the truth thereby. And they take My verses and that of which they are warned in ridicule.

57 And who is more unjust than one who is reminded of the verses of his Lord but turns away from them and forgets what his hands have put forth? Indeed, We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And if you invite them to guidance, they will never be guided.

58 And your Lord is the Forgiving, full of mercy. If He were to seize them for what they have earned, He would have hastened for them the punishment. But for them is an appointed time from which they will never find an escape.

59 And those cities, We destroyed them when they wronged, and We made for their destruction an appointed time.

60 And when Moses said to his servant I will not cease until I reach the junction of the two seas or I spend years and years in travel

61 But when they reached the junction between them they forgot their fish and it took its way into the sea slipping away

62 So when they had passed beyond it Moses said to his servant Bring us our morning meal certainly we have suffered fatigue in this journey of ours

63 He said Did you see when we took refuge at the rock I forgot the fish and none made me forget to mention it except Satan and it took its course into the sea amazingly

64 He said That is what we were seeking So they returned following their footprints

65 Then they found a servant from among Our servants to whom We had given mercy from Us and had taught him knowledge from Our presence

66 Moses said to him May I follow you on condition that you teach me from what you have been taught of right guidance

67 He said Indeed you will never be able to have patience with me

68 And how can you have patience for what you do not encompass in knowledge

69 He said You will find me if God wills patient and I will not disobey you in any order

70 He said Then if you follow me do not ask me about anything until I make mention of it to you

71 So they set out until when they had embarked on the ship he made a hole in it Moses said Have you made a hole in it to drown its people You have certainly done a grave thing

72 He said Did I not say that you would never be able to have patience with me

73 He said Do not blame me for what I forgot and do not overwhelm me in my matter with difficulty

74 So they set out until when they met a boy he killed him Moses said Have you killed a pure soul for other than having killed a soul You have certainly done a deplorable thing

75 He said Did I not tell you that you would never be able to have patience with me

76 He said If I should ask you about anything after this then do not keep me as a companion You have obtained from me an excuse

77 So they set out until when they came to the people of a town they asked its people for food but they refused to offer them hospitality Then they found in it a wall about to collapse so he restored it He said If you wished you could have taken for it a payment

78 He said This is parting between me and you I will inform you of the interpretation of that about which you could not have patience

79 As for the ship it belonged to poor people working at sea so I wanted to damage it as there was a king after them who seized every ship by force

80 And as for the boy his parents were believers and we feared that he would overburden them by transgression and disbelief

81 So we intended that their Lord should substitute for them one better than him in purity and nearer to mercy

82 And as for the wall it belonged to two orphan boys in the city and there was beneath it a treasure for them and their father had been righteous So your Lord intended that they reach maturity and extract their treasure as a mercy from your Lord And I did it not of my own accord That is the interpretation of that about which you could not have patience

83 They ask you about Dhul-Qarnayn. Say, I will recite to you a mention of him.

84 Indeed, We established him in the land and gave him means to everything.

85 So he followed a way.

86 Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring, and he found near it a people. We said, O Dhul-Qarnayn, either you punish or you take them in kindness.

87 He said, As for one who wrongs, we will punish him. Then he will be returned to his Lord, and He will punish him with a terrible punishment.

88 But as for one who believes and does righteousness, he will have a good reward. And we will speak to him from our command with ease.

89 Then he followed a way.

90 Until, when he reached the rising of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had not made against it any shield.

91 Thus. And We had encompassed what he had in knowledge.

92 Then he followed a way.

93 Until, when he reached between two mountains, he found beside them a people who could hardly understand speech.

94 They said, O Dhul-Qarnayn, indeed Gog and Magog are corrupters in the land. So may we assign for you payment on condition that you make between us and them a barrier?

95 He said, What my Lord has established for me is better, but assist me with strength; I will make between you and them a dam.

96 Bring me sheets of iron until, when he had leveled between the two mountain walls, he said, Blow until, when he had made it fire, he said, Bring me, I will pour over it molten copper.

97 So they were not able to pass over it, nor were they able to make in it any hole.

98 He said, This is a mercy from my Lord. But when the promise of my Lord comes, He will make it level, and the promise of my Lord has ever been true.

99 And We will leave them that day surging over one another, and the trumpet will be blown, and We will gather them all together.

100 And We will present Hell that day to the disbelievers, on display.

101 Those whose eyes had been within a cover from My remembrance, and they were not able to hear.

102 Do those who disbelieve think that they can take My servants as allies instead of Me? Indeed, We have prepared Hell for the disbelievers as a lodging.

103 Say, Shall we inform you of the greatest losers in deeds?

104 Those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work.

105 Those are the ones who disbelieve in the verses of their Lord and in meeting Him, so their deeds have become worthless; and We will not assign to them on the Day of Resurrection any importance.

106 That is their recompense - Hell - for what they denied and took My signs and My messengers in ridicule.

107 Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds - they will have the Gardens of Paradise as a lodging.

108 Abiding therein forever, they will not desire any transfer from it.

109 Say if the sea were ink for the words of my Lord the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted even if We brought the like of it as a supplement

110 Say I am only a human like you it is revealed to me that your God is one God so whoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord let him do righteous work and not associate anyone in the worship of his Lord